Best Warrior

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BALTIMORE – Fourteen competitors from throughout the Army National Guard are slated to battle it out in a physically and mentally challenging five-day competition to determine the Army Guard’s Soldier and Noncommissioned Officer of the year July 14-18 in locations throughout Maryland.

Hosted by the Maryland Army National Guard the 2025 Army National Guard Best Warrior Competition tests competitors on a variety of tactical and technical tasks including weapons proficiency, land navigation, emergency medical tasks, and combat casualty care. These tasks are completed over a grueling set of courses throughout the state that includes multiple timed ruck marches and the Army Combat Fitness Test.

Winners in the competition – one Soldier and one NCO – are named the Army Guard’s Soldier and NCO of the Year and will compete in the Department of the Army Best Squad Competition this fall. Runners-up in the Best Warrior Competition fill out the Army Guard squad competing in the Best Squad Competition based on their finish in Best Warrior.

Competitors in this year’s Army Guard Best Warrior Competition include:

Soldier Category
Spc. Adam Andrews - Rhode Island
Spc. Robert Ruiz-Rhoades – Pennsylvania
Spc. Jaden Hughes - Alabama
Spc. Logan Rutledge – Indiana
Spc. Alexander Thomson – Nebraska
Spc. Canyon Blassingame - Montana
Sgt. Michael Fouts – Arizona

NCO Category
Sgt. Kristopher Piwowarczyk - New Jersey
Staff Sgt. Miles Crawford – Maryland
Staff Sgt. Nicolas White – Georgia
Staff Sgt. Brandon Byrne - Wisconsin
Sgt. Luke Entz – Nebraska
Sgt. Matthew Lee – Montana
Sgt. Luke Cloward - Utah

Video Gallery

Video by Cpl. Daniel Medina

B-Roll: IMC Marines make it through Week 10

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

April 13, 2021 | 8:17

U.S. Marines with Alpha Company, Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry - West, complete their infantry physical assessment and sharpen their patrolling skills as part of the tenth week of the Infantry Marine Course on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, March 29 - April 2, 2021. IMC is a 14-week pilot course designed to create better trained and more lethal entry-level infantry Marines prepared for near-peer conflicts. The course uses a redesigned learning model for students intended to develop their capabilities for independent and adaptive thought and action. The program of instruction for IMC has been in development for a year and follows guidance from the 2019 Commandant's Planning Guidance and Force Design 2030. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Lance Cpl. Daniel Medina)